 First page of books XI–XVI of Tacitus'Annals (Venice:Vindelinus de Spira, ca. 1471/72) | |
| Author | Tacitus |
|---|---|
| Original title | Ab Excessu divi Augusti Historiarum Libri |
| Language | Latin |
| Genre | History |
Publication date | c. AD 105–116 |
| Publication place | Roman Empire |
| Media type | Manuscript |
| 937.07 | |
| LC Class | DG207.T3 G68 |
Original text | Ab Excessu divi Augusti Historiarum Libri at LatinWikisource |
| Translation | Annals at Wikisource |
TheAnnals (Latin:Annales) by Roman historian and senatorTacitus[1] is a history of theRoman Empire from the reign ofTiberius to that ofNero, the years AD 14–68.[2] TheAnnals are an important source for modern understanding of the history of the Roman Empire during the 1st century AD.[3] Tacitus' final work is generally considered by modern historians his magnum opus[4] which historianRonald Mellor says represents the "pinnacle of Roman historical writing".[5]
Tacitus'Histories andAnnals together amounted to 30 books, although some scholars disagree about which work to assign some books to, traditionally 14 are assigned toHistories and 16 toAnnals. Of the 30 books referred to byJerome about half have survived.[2]
Modern scholars believe that as aRoman senator, Tacitus had access toActa Senatus—the Roman senate's records—which provided a solid basis for his work.[4] Although Tacitus refers to part of his work as "my annals", the title of the workAnnals used today was not assigned by Tacitus himself, but derives from its year-by-year structure.[2][3] The name of the current manuscript seems to be "Books of History from the Death of the Divine Augustus" (Ab Excessu divi Augusti Historiarum Libri)[6].
TheAnnals was Tacitus' final work and provides a key source for modern understanding of the history of theRoman Empire from the beginning of the reign ofTiberius in AD 14 to the end of the reign ofNero, in AD 68.[3] Tacitus wrote theAnnals in at least 16 books, but books 7–10 and parts of books 5, 6, 11 and 16 are missing.[3]
The period covered by theHistories (written before theAnnals) starts at the beginning of the year AD 69, i.e. six months after the death ofNero and continues to the death ofDomitian in 96.[3] It is not known when Tacitus began writing the Annals, but he was well into writing it by AD 116.[2] Modern scholars believe that as a senator, Tacitus had access toActa Senatus, the Roman senate's records, thus providing a solid basis for his work.[4]
Together theHistories and theAnnals amounted to 30 books.[2] These thirty books are referred to bySaint Jerome, and about half of them have survived.[2] Although some scholars differ on how to assign the books to each work, traditionally fourteen are assigned toHistories and sixteen to theAnnals.[2] Tacitus' friend Pliny referred to "your histories" when writing to him about his earlier work.[2] Although Tacitus refers to part of his work as "my annals", the title of the workAnnals used today was not assigned by Tacitus himself, but derives from its year-by-year structure.[2][3]
Of the sixteen books inAnnals, the reign of Tiberius takes up six books, of which only Book 5 is missing. These books are neatly divided into two sets of three, corresponding to the change in the nature of the political climate during the period.[3]
The next six books are devoted to the reigns ofCaligula andClaudius. Books 7 through 10 are missing. Books 11 and 12 cover the period from the treachery ofMessalina to the end of Claudius' reign.
The final four books cover the reign ofNero and Book 16 cuts off in the middle of the year AD 66.[3] This leaves the material that would have covered the final two years of Nero's reign lost.[2]
Tacitus documented a Roman imperial system of government. He chose to start his work with the death ofAugustus Caesar in AD 14, and his succession byTiberius.[4]
As in theHistories, Tacitus maintains his thesis of the necessity of thePrincipate. He says again that Augustus gave and warranted peace to the state after years of civil war, but on the other hand he shows us the dark side of life under theCaesars. The history of the beginning of the principate is also the history of the end of the political freedom that the senatorial aristocracy, which Tacitus viewed as morally decadent, corrupt, and servile towards the emperor, had enjoyed during the republic. During Nero's reign there had been a widespread diffusion of literary works in favor of this suicidalexitus illustrium virorum ("end of the illustrious men"). Again, as in hisAgricola, Tacitus is opposed to those who chose useless martyrdom through vain suicides.
In theAnnals, Tacitus further improved the style of portraiture that he had used so well in theHistoriae. Perhaps the best portrait is that of Tiberius, portrayed in an indirect way, painted progressively during the course of a narrative, with observations and commentary along the way filling in details.[2] Tacitus portrays both Tiberius and Nero as tyrants who caused fear in their subjects.[2] But while he views Tiberius as someone who had once been a great man, Tacitus considers Nero as simply despicable.[2]
Since the 18th century, at least five attempts have been made to challenge the authenticity of theAnnals as having been written by someone other than Tacitus,Voltaire's criticism being perhaps the first.[8] Voltaire was generally critical of Tacitus and said that Tacitus did not comply with the standards for providing a historical background to civilization.[9] In 1878, John Wilson Ross and, in 1890, Polydore Hochart suggested that the whole of theAnnals had been forged by the Italian scholarPoggio Bracciolini (1380–1459).[10][11][12] According toRobert Van Voorst this was an "extreme hypothesis" which never gained a following among modern scholars.[12] Voorst, however, does not address any of Ross' objections regarding numerous purported historical inaccuracies in theAnnals, but only faults Hochart on a few points in a footnote.
Theprovenance of the manuscripts containing theAnnals goes back to theRenaissance. While Bracciolini had discovered three minor works atHersfeld Abbey in Germany in 1425,Zanobi da Strada (who died in 1361) had probably earlier discoveredAnnals 11–16 at Monte Cassino where he lived for some time.[7][13] The copies ofAnnals at Monte Cassino were probably moved toFlorence byGiovanni Boccaccio (1313–1375), a friend of da Strada, who is also credited with their discovery at Monte Cassino.[13][14][15] Regardless of whether the Monte Cassino manuscripts were moved to Florence by Boccaccio or da Strada, Boccaccio made use of theAnnals when he wroteCommento di Dante c. 1374 (before the birth of Poggio Bracciolini), giving an account ofSeneca's death directly based on the Tacitean account inAnnals book 15.[16][17] Francis Newton states that it is likely thatAnnals 11–16 were inMonte Cassino during the first half of the rule of Abbot Desiderius (1058–1087) who later becamePope Victor III.[18]Annals 1–6 were then independently discovered atCorvey Abbey in Germany in 1508 byGiovanni Angelo Arcimboldi, afterwards Archbishop of Milan, and were first published in Rome in 1515 byBeroaldus, by order of PopeLeo X, who afterwards deposited the manuscript in theMedicean Library in Florence.[7]
| Books[19] | Subjects |
|---|---|
| 1 | AD 14-15: Death and funeral ofAugustus; accession ofTiberius.Drusus and themutiny of the Pannonian legions.Germanicus and themutiny of the German legions. |
| 2 | AD 16-19:War in Germania continued. Libo Drusus, Piso, and Asinius Gallus oppose Tiberius.Tacfarinas's revolt. Germanicus is posted toAsia Minor, followed by his death. |
| 3 | AD 20-22: Germanicus' funeral. Domestic politics and legal matters of Rome. Beginning of theGallic Wars.Tacfarinas's revolt continued. |
| 4 | AD 23-28: Rise ofSejanus who poisons Drusus.Tacfarinas' revolt ends. War in Thrace. Agrippina makes moves. Tiberius abandons the capital, first for Campania, later to Capri. Fire on the Coelian Hill in Rome. Condemnation of Titius Sabinus. |
| 5 | AD 29: Death of Empress Livia(book incomplete). [AD 31: Fall ofSejanus.] |
| 6 | AD 32-37: Purges after the fall of Sejanus.Parthian War. Fire on the Aventine Hill in Rome. Death ofTiberius. |
| 11 | AD 47-48: Reign ofClaudius(since 41; earlier years missing). Prosecutions ofSuillius. Turmoil in Armenia.Corbulo settles aFrisian revolt. Senatorial rights extended to the provinces. Execution ofMessalina. |
| 12 | AD 49-54: Claudius remarries, and adopts Nero. Adjustments with Parthia. The pomerium enlarged. Invasion ofBritain continues with a campaign against Caratacus. Disorders in Armenia. Draining ofFucine Lake. Death of Claudius. |
| 13 | AD 54-59: Nero becomes emperor; the murder ofBritannicus. Continued trouble with Parthia over Armenia. Rome meets disaster in Armenia, saved by Corbulo. Wars with and among Germans continue. |
| 14 | AD 59-62: Nero murders his motherAgrippina. Neronia founded. Corbulo betters the course of Rome in Armenia. In Britain, theIcenian revolt underBoudicca. Criminal trials and political purges in Rome. Murder ofRubellius Plautus andOctavia. |
| 15 | AD 62-65: Roman defeat in Armenia, although "spun" as a victory; followed, however, by a further adjustment with Parthia in which the Armenian kingTiridates travels to Rome to become a nominal vassal of Rome. TheGreat Fire of Rome.Pisonian conspiracy fails. Forced suicides ofSeneca andLucan. |
| 16 | AD 65-66: Continued persecution of the nobility; death ofPetronius. A group ofStoic philosophers plots against Nero. The conspiratorsThrasea Paetus andBarea Soranus are murdered. The last two years of Nero's reign are missing. |
InDonna Leon's third Commissario Brunetti novelDressed for Death (1994), the protagonist reads Tacitus'Annals in his spare time in the evenings, and various references to that material are made throughout the novel.
InMikhail Bulgakov'sThe Master and Margarita Tacitus’Annals is referenced, as the MASSOLIT editor Berlioz asserts that its mention of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ is a spurious interjection, added later, and not written by Tacitus.
InJorge Luis Borges' short storyThe Garden of Forking Paths, when Yu Tsun, the main character, takes the train to carry out his final mission in the fictitious town of Ashgrove, among the few persons he encounters on the train is a young man fervently reading Tacitus’Annals.
Tacitus is also mentioned briefly inThe Mysteries of Udolpho byAnn Radcliffe, volume VI, chapter VIII.
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